title: [Clustering analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using the JATA(12)-VNTR system for molecular epidemiological surveillance in broad areas of Japan].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association (JATA) (12)-variable numbers of tandem repeats (VNTR) is a standard method for genotyping of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Japan. As a model study for nationwide surveillance, this study aimed to describe the tendency and frequency of genotypes of M. tuberculosis in a large number of clinical samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis (n = 1,778) were obtained from patients with tuberculosis in 3 areas, i.e., Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, and Kobe City, during 2007 and 2008. The samples were analyzed using JATA (12)-VNTR. All genotypes were subjected to clustering analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In total, 1,086 (61.1%) isolates showed clustering. The most common clusters were composed of 3 members. Such clusters were considered to reflect either actual transmission or low discriminatory power of JATA (12)-VNTR. Several prevalent JATA(12)-VNTR genotypes formed large clusters and were discussed in relation with epidemiological findings of other studies. The findings of this study will aid in the construction of an effective genotyping-based surveillance system of M. tuberculosis, through improvement of interpretation of VNTR types, observation of certain particular strains in an area, and efficient detection of unidentified outbreaks.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4, Sakamoto, Nagasaki-shi, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan. twada@nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Aki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamaru
authors.forename: Tomotada
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arikawa
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Komukai
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hase
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016358:Contact Tracing / Q000379:methods; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D060005:Genotyping Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral